4 out of 5 stars
On Amazon (universal link)
On Goodreads
How I discovered this book: it was submitted to Rosie's Book Review Team, of which I am a member.
In a Nutshell: Small town thriller set in Indiana, with hints of supernatural.
The story starts in a classic fashion for this sort of tale - a family en route to somewhere else turns off the road to find a toilet and anything that might ease their journey on a dark and lonely night. The scene is filled with foreboding, and sets the stage nicely for what comes next.
A curious fellow called Benjamin Clark is threatening the town's Pastor Thomas Loggins - he knows a secret from Loggins' past, and will reveal it unless the Pastor pays a terrible price. Thing is, Clark has done this before. More than once. Going back many years...
Some don't agree with my theory that writing talent is something you need to be born with - you can hone it, develop it or ignore it, but if the talent is not innate, you will have a hard time delivering a story in such a way that makes people want to keep turning the pages. Which is what it's all about. David Odle certainly has this talent - the suspense worked so well, and I was totally invested in the story. Just two aspects let it down, for me, was that it wasn't very well edited. I felt it could have done with another draft or two, and a more eagle-eyed proofreader. The other disappointment was the lack of resolution about Benjamin. It's hard to explain this without giving the plot away, but I needed to know more about his history and motivation than I was told.
All in all, though, it's a good book, and I'd recommend it for the storytelling quality alone.
Thank you Terry.
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